66_Sweet_as_Honey
66 Sweet as Honey¶
In 1963 a Lancaster bomber crashed on Wallis Island, a remote place in the South Pacific, a long way west of Samoa. The plane wasn't too badly damaged, but over the years the crash was forgotten and the wreck remained undisturbed. Then in 1989, twenty-six years after the crash, the plane was accidentally rediscovered in an aerial survey of the island. By this time, a Lancaster bomber in reasonable condition was rare and worth rescuing. The French authorities had the plane packaged and moved in parts back to France. Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. It has four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines but the group will need to have only three of them rebuilt. Imagine their surprise and delight when they broke open the packing cases and found that the fourth engine was sweet as honey--still in perfect condition. A colony of( bees had turned the engine into a hive and it was totally preserved in beeswax!
1963年，一架兰开斯特轰炸机在瓦立斯岛坠毁。那是南太平洋中一个很偏僻的小岛，位于萨摩亚群岛以西。 飞机损坏的程度并不严重，但是，多年来这起飞机失事已被遗忘，飞机残骸也没受到破坏。 于是，到了1989年，飞机失事26年后，在对小岛的一次航空勘查中那架飞机被意外地发现了。 到了那个时候，状况良好的兰开斯特轰炸机实属罕见，值得抢救。法国政府让人把飞机包装起来，一部分一部分地搬回法国。 一群热心人计划修复这架飞机。它有4台罗尔斯-罗伊斯的默林发动机，但是修复组织只需要修理其中3台。 想一想他们所感受到的惊奇和兴奋——当他们拆开包装箱时，他们发现第4台发动机就像蜂蜜一样甜——发动机完好无损。 一群蜜蜂把发动机当作了蜂房，发动机在蜂蜡中被完整地保存了下来。
Words¶
- bomber /ˈbɑmɚ/ 轰炸机
- Pacific /pəˈsɪfɪk/ 太平洋
- wreck /rɛk/ 残骸
- undisturbed /ˌəndɪˈstɝbd/ 未被扰乱的
- accidentally /ˌæksəˈdɛntəli/ 偶然地
- aerial /ˈɛriəl/ 航空
- survey /sɚˈve/ 调查
- rare /rɛr/ 少见的
- enthusiasts /ɛnˈθuziˌæsts/ 热衷者
- Imagine /ˌɪˈmædʒən/ 想象
- delight /dɪˈlaɪt/ 高兴
- hive /haɪv/ 蜂巢
- preserved /prəˈzɝvd/ 保藏
- beeswax /ˈbizwæks/ 蜂蜡
- remote /rɪˈmot/ 遥远的
- restore /rɪˈstɔr/ 修复
- colony /ˈkɑləni/ 群体
Expressions¶
- have/get sth. done... : cause something to be done by somebody else. 请别人做某事
- over the years 数年间
- in reasonable condition 在合理条件下
- be worth doing... 值得做……
- turn a into b. 把a变成b